Sharad, who was in Saharsa on Saturday said that there was nothing in Budget for Bihar. He said the Centre had adopted double standards so far the issue of special package is concerned. He also criticized the fare hike by the Railways.

Nitish, on the other hand, said on Friday that the Union Budget for 2012-13 had nothing special for Bihar. He said the Budget had not tried to tackle the problem of price rise affecting the common man.

Dubbing the Budget as a kaamchalau (lame duck) he said in fact the present UPA-II government is a lame duck arrangement. The Budget talks about future, but is not seized of the problems facing the country. He regretted that there was inadequate central support to second Green Revolution in the eastern region of the country.

Lamenting that the relief in direct tax is too small and is offset by losses to people through rise in indirect tax Nitish said interests of the state have been ignored.

The chief minister said that though the Budget had increased allotment to agriculture sector to Rs 1,000 crore, Bihar would get only around Rs 100 crore. For the last two years, the Centre had been talking about second Green Revolution in the eastern region. But during the period it has allotted only Rs 450 crore, out of which Bihar has received a paltry Rs 50 crore.

He said the budget had also been silent on special assistance to Bihar following its reorganization after the creation of Jharkhand in Nov 2000, when interestingly Nitish himself was in the then Vajpayee cabinet at the Centre.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who holds the finance portfolio, termed the Budget as directionless, which would stoke inflation. It would neither improve economy of the country nor help the common man. The hike in excise and service taxes would lead to further price rise. There is nothing for women and senior citizens. The Centre included in its list even those services which used to be in state list for tax purposes, he added.

The opposition, RJD, too said that the budget was not only anti-poor but also against the common man.

State RJD president Ram Chandra Purbey and the national secretary general Ram Kripal Yadav in a joint statement said that the Union finance minister had given a lollipop to people through relief in direct tax, but huge increase in indirect taxes would pinch their pockets. The budget, in fact, was pro-corporate.

Like the ruling party they too said that the interest of the state had been ignored, since neither special assistance had been announced for Bihar, nor anything substantial been done to promote its agriculture.

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